Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
by Angelynne Vas Normandy
Summary: "I am getting too old for this bullshit". These were Michael De Santa's famous last words which he hoped could set him down for good and give him the peace he lost these last few months. However, when an old figure form Michael's past decides to show up asking for help and assistance, he realizes that a man of a kind like his own, is never able to settle down.


Author's Notes:

This is my very first work in the GTA V fandom. I have been working on this project for many weeks, being interrupted by uni exams, depression, a failed romance and writer's block cause by the factors mentioned above. It has been a real joy writing this after seeing so many fanfictions of any kind in this fandom - I am a freshman here, sorry!

Also, every chapter is inspired by a piece of music, instrumental or not. I have been making great attempts to use music of any kind - from radio pop to heavy metal. The bulk of the "soundtrack" however will include pieces form games such as "The Last Of Us" and "Heavy Rain" - this is not only a funny story. The name of the track will be mentioned at the very start of the chapter, so you can understand the story behind it with a much more clear mind...:)

Happy reading!

_"Stand up_

_You have to manage_

_I won't sympathize_

_Anymore..."_

_Bjork - Army Of Me_

_**North Yankton, 19 years ago.**_

_Arthur Vance was screwed. No matter how persistent he has been in hiding from the Feds, they always seemed to find a way to undig people and shit on their necks. His house was actually surrounded by them._

_Michael Townley was looking outside the windows as more agents were coming his partner's way. The two of them made an indestructible duo of first class bank robbers. It could be also said that Stuart tutored Michael at some things. He passed on his knowledge on how to plan and execute robberies with the least possible loses. But now, it seemed that their partnership was going down._

_As Arthur and Michael shot some agents from the windows, a young girl with curly hair stood by the wooden door case. The child wore a pair of pink pajama pants and a white short-sleeved t-shirt. She rubbed her eyes, as she held her teddy bear close to her chest._

_"Daddy?" she asked the tall man but he did not hear; Michael did though and nudged Arthur's shoulder. When he saw her standing there with obvious innocence, he got shocked. Arthur went close to her._

_" Sweetie...Don't worry. Daddy is here..." Arthur hugged the young girl, gently and lovingly. Michael stood by the window still and kept his head low so not to be recognized. He looked at Arthur's arms; how strongly and solidly held the girl, his palms two fists around the tiny waist and a gun somewhere in between the blurry lines between love and death. Then he looked at his eyes, at his huge brown eyes, that sparkled with fear and uncertainty._

_Out of the sudden, a bombing sound was heard from the ground floor as they eventually blew up the door. Michael was about to rage on when Arthur grabbed him by his arm. He rebelled as he tried to escape but time was running short and he had to react fast to achieve his greatest deed; save his only child, Elizabeth._

_"Let me go! I can take these fuckers down!" Michael shouted. But it seemed that Arthur had a plan of his own._

_"Michael, I don't think I can make it out. And if I do, my daughter will suffer my deeds. I want you to take her out of here and protect her. Promise me that you will keep her safe as long as it is needed." his words were coming out in a rush. He looked at his daughter's eyes. She was about to cry._

_Michael seemed relactant at first, but if this was his last deathwish, so be it. Arthur passed his daughter's hand into Michael and gave him an envelope out from his jacket._

_"Make sure they don't find them...It has been an honour, Townley." Stuart lastly said to Michael before hugging his daughter one last time. He slipped a small key into her palm._

_"Dear child, Uncle Mickey will take you away from here. I..." he gave Michael a look of doubt. He nodded._

_"I will come for you...But if I don't be a nice girl to Uncle, OK? And I want you to remember that your Daddy Bear always loves you, mo matter what..." he was about to break down. He let go of her, as she nodded her head confirming his words. Michael got her in his arms to walk faster and took down the stairs. As they his in the kitchen, more agents went upstairs and the girl unlocked the secret door to crawl through._

_They dug their way out, but made sure to lock the door behind them. Michael looked back for a few seconds as he heard a scream, accompanied with gunshots but the child nudged him from his t-shirt. They kept up until the sunlight became visible. The girl stood on her feet and asked Michael. She was shivering as more snow fell on her feet._

_"Daddy is not coming back, is he?" a plea would pass unoticed in Michael's ears, but this girl was not anybody or nobody. She was the child of one of his best friends. The few he had. He watched her grow up. Michael got her in his arms again and wrapped her to the insides of his jacket._

_"No, Ellie...He won't...Hey, why don't we go home, you can play with Tracey and Jimmy!" Michael was very bad at hiding his emotions. Ellie was pretty smart and could not be easily sidetracked or duped. And she was just 6. She was old enough to understand things, but too young to figure out the concepts of death, deception and hatred._

_"Did the bad guys kill Daddy? Why they killed him? We could have kicked out the bad guys and save Daddy and everybody would be happy!" she cried. Micheal was in a dicey situation. What he was going to do with her? Could he adopt her? His mind seemed so conflicted, what kind of life he could provide her?_

_Michael just nodded his head and Ellie dug herself in his chest even more fiercly. They reached home and Amanda's terrified face was the only thing hitting him home._

_Ellie was calm as she played with 5-year old Jimmy and 4-year old Tracey. In the meanwhile, Michael and Amanda were discussing about the newest addition to the family._

_"We can't file for an adoption, Mandy...Our criminal records are dotted, we would never become valid parents for her according to the law." Michael's growing headache seemed to become flared up as he gave eye shots to Ellie._

_"Michael...You care for her and I do too, we have to try at least." Amanda Townley touched her husband's hand. Then she looked at Ellie again. The child was about to pay for all the mistakes the adults around her have done. She felt some sort of pity, but soon realized that pity was not the right word to describe it. _

_" We have no choice,honey...Tomorrow morning, she will be given to the authorities and they will know better what to do next. It is not right to me either - I just can't abandon her like that, but there is nothing else we can do..." Michael's words seemed terminal. Amanda got up from the table and proceeded to put the kids in bed._

_In the meanwhile, Micheal caught himself trying to open up the envelope but he was hesitant in doing so. He just broke the gluey bond between the folds of the folder and, unable to open it, he just left it there. He saw the young girl sleeping while little content breaths were coming out of her mouth. Michael did not know what to feel in order to set him mind into the right stake of the things. Was it some sort of sadness about the girl who was about to be put in foster care and being tossed around like a towel to foster families? Was it anger about his partner 's death? Was it fear about his own family? Or just a bad, rusty combination between them all?_

_He sat there, his eyes dotting in between Ellie and the envelope. Why now? What was so important about this that needed to be protected at any cost? Michael could not think about it the time being, so he just tossed the empty whiskey bottle and went to bed._

_Eventually, dusk came and little rays danced inside the torn, wooden windows. The time has come, Ellie was about to be cut out from everything she knew and loved so far to be wrapped up in bureaucratic bullshit and an uncertain future. Amanda woke her up gently and she obeyed to her"aunt "'s calling._

_Michael was all dressed waiting for the child to be prepared. Amanda gave him a reassuring look and took Ellie into a last embrace. Her tiny hands were shaking unconditionally as she was torn away from the last familiar female face she ever knew. Michael took the girl, placing her on the back seat of his car, a run down old Ford Falcon with seats that smelled like weed and beers. He was very suprised by her serenity. She was just gazing outside the window, keeping her teddy bear close to her lap. She had no other possesions, just this fluffy bear, a reminder of her innocence wrapped up in a life-defining chaos. _

_The building of the social services was big and Ellie's eyes were examing it with those enormous honey eyes. She sighed. _

_"Ellie?" Michael asked. He was about to touch her shoulder when she abruptly shove herself away and opened the door of the car. She slammed it behind and walked with clumsy steps at the stairs where she sat. Ellie crossed her hands, tugging the teddy bear even closer to her embrace. Micheal swore in the air - she is very smart but she is very young still to realize that this is for her better good._

_He got out of the car. A woman came and talked to him. After all the preparations were made, the woman took Ellie inside. She refused to greet Michael. This was utterly unbearable. Damn it._

_It was raining for the next few days. The sun was completely swallowed by the black clouds as endless rain was being poured down with strife and never-ending rage. Ellie spent her days on the window, watching the raindrops competing with each other in the race of disappearance. Time after time, she could see Amanda watching from outside, but she was ignoring her. A month after, she was given to a foster family._

_The clock stroke 11:30 when they came to take her. It was December. It was snowing still._

_It had been the day where her problems would begin_.

**Francis International, 11 January 2014**

"The fuck is this kind of shit?" Ellie murmured as the clerk at the check in was making her life a bit more harder than he should. He was a nice looking guy but she had to admit: he was not that smart. Still, she wanted to be done with it. Her luggage and her seat were waiting for her, to get back to the place she hated most.

Los Fucking Santos.

Ellie had been there a good amount of times but only for a couple of days and she knew where to go and where not to step a foot on. She never thought that she would get there anytime soon, until she realized that the only person that would help her was the person that initially got her in that kind of crap. And it happened to live in that particular piece of shit called city.

He did quite good for himself, Ellie thought. Screwing over everyone you love apparently gets you a wonderful big mansion and spoils up the little brats you call children. Damn!

It wasn't that heard to undig his whereabouts and find his mail address. The FIB ain't known for their "overprotecting protection over personal data about criminals trotting around the globe and the States". Plus it was not that hard - the agents seem so thrilled over one-night stands. A couple of mental connections and the young girl that Michael Townley ditched at the doorstep of the social services was about to shit on his doorstep.

Seems like history repeats itself.

She demanded his help. He could not refuse. His mail had been quite the sob story, but Ellie did not bite that kind of crap.

"I am coming for you and you better make sure you have plenty of shit to hack and earn some easy peasy money...Or else..." she said her last words as she boarded on the plane.

The game was on once again.

And she was about to win it at any cost possible.


End file.
